1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a route search system that provides route information between a plurality of points.
2. Description of Related Art
In delivery schemes in the field of goods distribution, there is a trend to utilize traffic information and route services that have been developed for navigation services. Methods are under investigation for obtaining routes between delivery points with a small amount of stored data and in a short time period.
For example, a method is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication H11-64022 in which representative nodes are set in a large number of small divided-up areas, and routes are calculated and stored in advance between these representative nodes. When two delivery points have been given, the closest representative node to each of these delivery points is searched, and a route between these two representative nodes that have been searched is acquired from a means that stores routes between various representative nodes that have been calculated in advance. It is described to calculate a route, for each of these two delivery points, between that delivery point and the closest representative node thereto, and to obtain a route between the two delivery points with a small amount of stored data and in a short time period by combining these routes and the route between the representative nodes.